The Presidential Office said Wednesday that it will "review and pursue various measures to build military trust" between the two Koreas, responding to reports that the government had halted procedures to preemptively restore the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement.
"The government will pursue measures to ease military tensions and restore trust between the two Koreas," the Presidential Office said.
President Lee Jae-myung formalized his plan to preemptively restore the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement in his Liberation Day address last year. As part of that effort, the government decided to begin by restoring the no-fly zone. However, a report a day earlier said that inter-agency reviews and consultations with the United Nations Command for this purpose had been fully suspended.
In response, the Presidential Office said it was "difficult to confirm specific details of the reviews or consultations," but added that the government would "pursue (military trust-building measures) while maintaining a firm military readiness posture and the South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture."
A Ministry of Unification official also told reporters at the Government Complex Seoul on the same day that "there has been no change in the government's position to preemptively and gradually restore the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement to ease military tensions and restore trust between the two Koreas."
